ANN ARBOR -- Outside of the offensive line, Michigan's most interesting position battle this month might be at cornerback.

At the same time, outside of the offensive line, the spot Michigan needs the most improvement at might be cornerback.

Senior Raymon Taylor and junior Blake Countess combined for 10 interceptions a year ago, and Countess -- who had six of those picks -- was even selected as a first-ream All-Big Ten performer by the league's media at the end of the season.

But at the same time, Michigan's pass defense as a whole was nowhere near good enough. The Wolverines finished No. 66 nationally against the pass last season, after wrapping up the 2012 season at No. 5 nationally.

Michigan's corners made plays on the football, but they were also victimized by bigger, faster wideouts far too often, as the team gave up 42 pass plays of 20 yards or longer.

Michigan coach Brady Hoke says both Taylor and Countess have more than enough experience and more than enough football IQ to be true leaders in that position group. But, at the same time, both are going to have to re-earn their jobs this month during fall camp.

"I think Blake and Ray, they're both older guys, who have played a lot," "Then you've got (sophomores) Jourdan (Lewis) and (Channing) Stribling, guys who have done a nice job (developing).

"The leadership from Blake is going to be important, and from Raymon. But there's also great competition. They've got to play every day. ... They all know, they'd better have a day, every day."

Part of Michigan's issue against the pass last season was the lack of a consistent pass rush from the team's front four. Michigan only got 11 1/2 sacks from its defensive linemen in 13 games.

But the Wolverines also found themselves worrying about bringing more blitz pressure from elsewhere on the defense for fear of holes in their man-to-man coverage on the outside.

Not all of that is on the corners, of course. The Wolverines went through a pretty sizable array of bodies at both safety spots a year ago, and never really settled on two week-to-week players down the middle.

Moving forward, both Hoke and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison have insisted that they want their corners to play with more physicality and more tenacity on the outside. They want to be able to press people and take chances elsewhere.

Lewis finished up spring practice as the one corner who seemed to be excelling in this area, wrapping up camp No. 1 on the depth chart opposite Taylor at corner. Countess, meanwhile, lined up with the starters at nickel back.

And then there's the matter of Jabrill Peppers -- a freshman phenom who will enter camp as a nickel, but will also get a look at other spots in the defensive backfield.

"(Countess could play more at nickel), we'll see," Hoke said. "He knows the position, he's played it before. But we'll see.

"We're competitive everywhere, so for me to say one is more competitive (than the other), I don't know if I can honestly do that. But I do think that position, there's no question, the expectations that we all have (are high)."

As far as the safeties are concerned, Hoke seems relatively comfortable with junior Jarrod Wilson manning the free safety spot moving forward. The strong safety position, though, will feature a bit more competition.

Sophomores Dymonte Thomas and Delano Hill battled during spring ball, with Hill wrapping up camp slightly ahead. Hoke has been asked repeatedly if Peppers might get a look here, and he's made no firm commitment one way or the other.

Mattison, meanwhile, has said Peppers will be used wherever the staff believes it needs the most help moving forward.

"As we go into fall camp, the rotation from there will be something we'll look at and how we evaluate who ends up with the first group," Hoke said. "We've got more depth and more competition (in the secondary), and all of them know they've got to have a day every day. They better know how to adjust to different defenses, all those things sometimes we think are simple, they've got to have a day every day.